We left Aukland at about 7am and got onto our first bus. We've bought a Kiwi Experience pass which allows us to hop on and hop off buses when and where we want to so long as its on the route we've purchased. On the way up to the bay of islands, which is north on the north island, we had a quick stop at a waterfall, and we arrived into a very cute coastal town called Paiha at about 12ish.
After lunch we walked down to the pier to catch our dolphin seeking boat. The trip was three hours around the islands and the bay, up to the hole in the rock and we saw lots of dolphins, seals and even a little penguin swimming past which was bizarre. Best of all we got to take a swim with the dolphins! I was the first in the water and the dolphins around us was amazing, but the water was so cold it was all I could think about. The dolphins didn't hang around for long - we obviously weren't entertaining enough for them - but it was still incredible.
When we got back we had fish and chips on the beach and spent the evening watching films in the hostel.
The next morning Becki and Amy headed out to do a skydive and Katie and I got a ferry over to a town called Russell. We spent the morning walking around the town and it is the cutest town I've ever seen, it was adorable and the weather was lovely so it was a really nice morning, I don't think it could have been more different to the morning that Becki and Amy had, throwing themselves out of planes.
In the afternoon we caught the bus back down to Aukland and spent the night there, leaving early the next morning for Hot Water Beach.
